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GameTap Thursday: The return of Earthworm Jim
After re-acquiring the rights to many Interplay titles last month, GameTap welcomes the return of several Earthworm Jim games with this week's update. Other titles expected in the future from the Interplay deal are MDK and Fallout. Earthworm Jim (Genesis) - An invertebrate finds a special suit -- action ensues. Earthworm Jim 2 (Genesis) - Bigger, badder and wormier than the original. Earthworm Jim 3D (Windows) - The transition to 3D was not kind on the hero. Earthwo ... Sacred Gold - A Baldur's Gate/Diablo-style game that stood out from the glut of clones based on the aforementioned titles. GameTap's list of free games can be found after the break. This week, arcade classic Burger Time joins the lineup. If you've never played, you'll never turn your back on eggs or sausage again without fearing it's trying to kill you.
GameTap Thursday: Cradle of Rome's Astro Fury
GameTap's big news this week was that Fallout would be showing up sometime in the near future, but that future isn't now. This week's new additions for gold members are a pretty standard puzzle game and shoot 'em up; however, freeloaders should take full advantage of Deus Ex joining GameTap's gratis lineup. Astro Fury (Windows) - Arcade style top-down shoot 'em up with vibrant colors. Cradle of Rome (Windows) - A puzzle game. Due to an overzealous spam filter or something, we didn't receive the updated list of free titles for the service this upcoming week, and therefore can't place the list after the break. For now, feel free to browse through the free section of GameTap's site and we'll add our list as soon as we get it.Update: This week's free games list can now be found after the break.
GameTap to add Fallout titles to its Interplay library
After last month's announcement of Interplay catalog titles coming to GameTap, we surely weren't alone in wondering where the Fallout games were. Sure, MDK and Earthworm Jim are great additions but, with Fallout 3 coming out later this year, the absence was enough to make us reach for the bottle. Now, just a few weeks later, the 'Tap has announced that those previously announced Interplay titles – as well as the "widely successful Fallout titles" – will be available not only through the subscription service but also for free play on the ad-supported website.And just like that, put another check mark on Interplay's ongoing quest to monetize their stable of properties and turn all that red ink black. Next step: sequels and that Fallout MMO they keep talking about.
GameTap Thursday: Tortuga Pirates in the Ducati World Championship
We take a moment this week in our GameTap Thursday post to remember the men and women who made up the editorial team over at the service. Their employment was cut tragically short this week due to shortsighted management decisions. So, we raise a glass to our fellow scribes and toast to the words of Eddie Valiant, "Here's to the pencil pushers. May they all get lead poisoning." Ducati World Championship (Windows) - It's sort of, but totally not, like Gran Turismo with bikes. Tortuga Pirates of the New World (Windows) - Pirates! or Tropico are much better games. If you're really looking for something different to play (and probably learn), Brian Lara Cricket 2007 joins GameTap's free lineup this week.
GameTap fires editorial department, Read and Watch sections to shut down
GameTap is shutting down its relatively new editorial department and the entire staff has been given a couple of weeks notice. GameDaily reports that GameTap's Read and Watch sections, which are less than a year old, had a strong stable of veteran industry writers, but those sections will now be dismantled and integrated into the site's actual game pages.GameTap VP Rick Sanchez writes on the community boards that the service has been happy with the editorial team, but has decided to focus on the company's main business, which is its game catalog. Details are still lacking about what the new vision for GameTap is, but being an all-purpose mega-site with games and news to rival Gamespot or IGN is obviously not it.Update: We've placed GameTap's official statement on this issue after the break.
GameTap Thursday: Dangerous Waters of The Chosen
Let's just focus on the good GameTap news from yesterday that Interplay and Take-Two have made new deals with the service. This week's new titles sure do show that the online buffet could really use an adrenaline shot to the heart for the weekly updates. Of course, it's unfair to look at things that way, considering if we take the whole library into account there's plenty of options to last us from now until the Zombie Apocalypse. It's coming ... just wait. Dangerous Waters (Windows) - Hardcore submarine simulator. The Chosen (Windows) - A budget title Diablo II clone. Metal Slug 2 joins the gratis GameTap lineup listed after the break.
GameTap welcomes back Interplay, adding more Take-Two
GameTap has re-acquired the rights to Interplay titles and has also finalized a deal with publisher Take-Two. The return of Interplay, following an awkward departure last December, means that titles like Earthworm Jim, Descent and MDK will return to the service beginning in June. GameTap also announced it'll be losing six titles (all listed after the break).The finalized deal with Take-Two, which brought Civilization IV and Pirates! to the service late last year, could yield some interesting titles. There's no word yet what games are being added beyond Civ IV's expansion Warlords, but getting some Rockstar titles (like Max Payne and GTA) would be sweet.
GameTap Thursday: Playing Five Card Deluxe at Outpost Kaloki
GameTap does a little better than last week with the addition of Outpost Kaloki to the subscription lineup. With Kaloki's addition, this is a good time to mention GameTap's indies section, where subscribers can peruse all the games which don't come from big evil publishers keeping the little man down. Yeah, like, la vie boheme, man. Five Card Deluxe (Windows) - Poker-themed solitaire. Sure, it sounds lonely, but isn't it supposed to be? Outpost Kaloki (Windows) - A "tycoon" game where players create a space station to stand the test of time and keep aliens happy. GameTap's list of free games can be found after the break. The Battle of Europe flight-sim joins the free lineup this week for your Luftwaffe-destroying pleasure.
GameTap Thursday: Alpha Prime Chameleon Gems Flip Words
Um, so, this week GameTap doesn't necessarily scrape the bottom of the barrel, but sort of skims the goo that's formed atop the stagnant water over the weeks. Really nothing to see here, but if we want to get optimistic, the good news is Deus Ex will be added to the service next week. Alpha Prime (Windows) - A first-person shooter we've never heard of, but reviewers didn't like it much. Chameleon Games (Windows) - A Zuma clone. Flip Words 2 (Windows) A casual game where you make words. GameTap's list of free games can be found after the break. This week adds Morning's Wrath ... a Diablo clone. This week is just painful all around.Update: It's true, Deus Ex has been on the service for a while. That link he have in the first paragraph definitely went to an announcement that the game was being added next week (you can even tell by the pull-quote used on the GameTap page). Ninjas have swooped in and made changes.
Would You Rather ... Episodic Edition
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?This week for WUR we're talking episodic content. With games like Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness on the horizon for XBLA we're wondering what your opinion is on distribution and pricing.Assuming that when it's all said and done you'd spend the same amount on an entire season of content, which would you prefer? Purchase an entire season of content for a final total price and download each episode when they are available (akin to one of the purchase models of Sam & Max from GameTap) or purchase each episode/content pack separately like the current Xbox Live Marketplace model?Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... steal this info!
Madden NFL 09 to add 'Real Football Intelligence', online leagues, holodeck
Happy NFL Draft weekend, everyone! With one day of exciting athlete trafficking under our belts, we thought it would be appropriate to point out a recent GameTap interview with Madden NFL 09 designer Phil Frazier, which reveals a number of features in the next installment of the never-ending, pigskin-chuckin' franchise. With buzzwords like "Favre", "player weapons" and "holographic training center", could this be the year where we find our way back into EA Sports' monopolized fold?Some of the features highlighted include the Real Football Intelligence system, which tracks your skill as a player and provides helpful (and aggravating, we imagine) feedback, the induction of Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth as the new play-by-play and color commentators, and online, 32-man leagues (complete with trading, drafting, and flexible scheduling). We can only hope they'll include even more lunatic outbursts from the series ham-hearted, titular announcer.
GameTap Thursday: The Great Journey of Darkstar One
GameTap goes on an intergalactic mission this week with space-smuggler sim Darkstar One. The service also adds another title which, at first glance, may confuse a few people into thinking it's a completely different game. Darkstar One (Windows) - A semi-precious gem from a couple years ago that's inspired by the great space-sim shooters of the '90s and doesn't take itself too seriously in the commerce department. Great Journey (Windows) - No, it's not The Longest Journey ... not by the longest shot. It's actually an E-rated game about stopping polluters in Antarctica. Get ready to hadouken as GameTap's free games adds Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers this week. Find the full free games list, presented in Chun-Li Thunder-Thigh-O-Vision, after the break (Thunder-Thigh-O-Vision may not be available on some browsers).
GameTap Thursday: Dracula Twins tend to a Dark Matter with Alien Shooter Vengeance
This week, GameTap adds some titles from the land of random to its service following last week's Sam & Max season two finale. Alien Shooter Vengeance (Windows) - Shoot everything that moves. Dark Matter (Windows) - Shoot everything that moves some more. Dracula Twins (Windows) - Shoot everything that moves ... sorry, was getting into a rhythm. Play as Drac's kids and save the old man from some obnoxious vampire hunters. Added to the list of GameTap's free games this week is X2: The Threat, a space trading and combat sim which has absolutely nothing to do with the X-Men whatsoever. The full list of free games can be found after the break.
Reminder: You can still win Sam & Max Season 2!
"Holy rollerblading geriatrics on a steeply inclined lido deck, Max! The deadline for our Season 2 giveaway is set to pounce tomorrow at 5PM EST!""Dead lion, Sam? I thought we adopted a strictly enforced ban on ferocious, undead felines in the office.""You crack me up, little buddy. Who did you name as your favorite adventure game character in the giveaway post, anyway? Was it ... me?""None of your damn business, Sam."
GameTap Thursday: Sam & Max meet the dark prince
This week GameTap takes Sam & Max to meet the man downstairs in the season two finale. Will the dog detective and his rabbity-thing companion survive to make a third season? We hope so. Ice Land 2 (Windows) - Mortimer the penguin must collect floating fish while not falling in the water because apparently penguins -- or, at least this one -- can't swim. Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (Windows) - Bend and twist the mind in this return to Myst. Tank Battalion (Arcade) - And somewhere in this blogger's mind he recalls playing this game at a dingy bar in Dorchester, Mass. during the early '80s while his uncle played pool... darn flashbacks. Sam & Max Season Two Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? (Windows) - It's time to go to Hell LLC in the last episode of the season. (Psst, cheapskates, we're also giving away some copies of the whole season too) After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games, which adds Fastlane Pinball and King of Monsters 2 into the mix of 117 free titles.
GTA4 preview details online multiplayer modes
GameTap has finally gotten a chance to share the previously embargoed details of its recent hands-on time with Grand Theft Auto IV. The preview discusses four of the game's fifteen online modes: Team Deathmatch, GTA Race, Cops 'N Crooks (a Counter-Strike style team match) and Hangman's Noose (a co-operative escort mission).Among the interesting details discussed (some of which have also been revealed elsewhere): Previously rumored 16-player online play is confirmed. The online maps aren't changed in any way from single-player -- you can still drive vehicles from one end of the city to the other, if you want. There's no co-op option for the single-player missions, but many online modes allow for cooperation. Ranked online matches earn players in-game cash for character customization. Higher difficulty means more cash. Race mode can be played with or without weapons. The volume of other characters voices will vary depending on their distance from you. "So if you hear an enemy's voice, he's probably right behind you and it's too late." The most telling quote in the preview is Vice President of Game Development Geronimo Barrera's suggestion that "after players earn the cell phone in the single-player game (which takes about five minutes), if they want they can jump online and never even play the single-player again." With the extremely varied multiplayer options, we might just be taking him up on that.Note: GameTap's servers are getting hit pretty hard, so the Read link may not load for a while.Update: They're all live! GTA4.net has posted links to numerous multiplayer previews. (Thanks Cal!)
GameTap Thursday: Mardi kicks up DiRT and Pop-A-Tronic Warlords
GameTap pulls one of its random Tuesday updates this week immediately causing us to become suspicious. There must be some dastardly trick in here somewhere for this April Fool's update to make sense?! Typically the Tuesday updates are only reserved for exclusive releases or holidays. We're pretty sure it's got nothing to do with this week's three new games. DiRT (Windows) - An exceptional racer that broke one of our writers. Hours of gameplay to be had for those looking for something between simulation and arcade style racing. Pop-A-Tronic (Windows) - It's a color matching casual game. As with all match-three color games it's best enjoyed with some pharmacological enhancement. Not that we condone such actions. Warlords (DOS) - A strategy game from many moons ago which eventually transformed into the Warlords Battlecry series. Well, there was nothing nefarious in that update. After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games, which adds the enjoyable Mr. Robot and Captain McGrandpa -- Memory of the Forgotten. Qu'est-ce que c'est? What's Captain McGrandpa? Hmm, we may have to check out the GameTap forums later to see what this mélange of trick and treat might be.
GameTap Thursday: Baseball Mogul becomes Hot Dog King of Daemonica
GameTap adds one of the stranger Tycoon-esque games this week with Hot Dog King. It's not hard to guess the game is a hot dog store business sim, but the hook is that players hire big-breasted women to work the counter. The ladies are quite high maintenance, but they're also the main attraction of the store. It's so very strange. Baseball Mogul (Windows) - You play as a baseball team's manager. Yes, it's exactly as complicated as it sounds. Think of it as one of those hardcore submarine sims, only with baseball. Daemonica (Windows) - The town of Cavorn has some deep dark secrets in this adventure game. Hot Dog King (Windows) - Busty women serving hot dogs ... hmm, why do we suddenly miss Chuck? After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games, with Rastan joining the ranks this week. Note: Next week's Gametap Thursday will actually be on Tuesday and will see the addition of various titles including DiRT. There's allegedly no reason for the early update.
GameTap Thursday: The Fire Flower Fleet Command Denied our Ops
GameTap brings us into conflict and then denies our operations this week with Conflict: Denied Ops. Yup, still one of the most foolish game titles in the past year. Beyond that there's a puzzle game involving flowers and a hardcore naval strategy game. This week's odd offerings are diminished by last week's new Sam & Max adventure. Conflict: Denied Ops (Windows) - Playing as a "deniable operative" you ... ohhh, now we finally get it. Fire Flower (Windows) - The only way out of the magical labyrinth in this puzzle game is to move flowers around. Fleet Command (Windows) - A hardcore naval strategy simulator. After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games. New additions this week are Ball 7 and Qix. Still waiting to read some academic paper about Qix being a metaphor for claustrophobia and a person's struggle to break free.
GameTap Thursday: Sam & Max mush the Chariot of the Dogs
GameTap brings an all new episode of Sam & Max this week to give gamers their adventure genre fix. In the latest episode, Chariot of the Dogs, the dog detective and his rabbity-thing compadre search for the missing Bosko. Don't know who Bosco is? Then you're obviously not playing these games! Shameful! Sam & Max Season 2: Episode 4 Chariot of the Dogs (Windows) - Help find Bosco! Iron Warriors (Windows) - A game where you play as a tank commander in the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian War. Seriously, that's what it's about. After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games. New additions this week are Fatal Fury and Vulgus. There's also very little time left to check out Myst Online: Uru Live before it disperses into the void of the intertubes.
